1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing apparatuses, image processing methods, data processing apparatuses, data processing methods, and storage media, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a data processing apparatus, a data processing method, and a storage medium which allow noise included in data, such as a moving image, to be removed more effectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, data such as transmitted or reproduced image data and sound data includes noise which changes as time elapses. To remove the noise included in the data, there have been known methods in which the average, namely, the whole average, of the whole input data is obtained and in which the average of a part of the input data, which is called a moving average, is obtained.
The method in which the whole average is calculated is effective when the degree of noise included in data, namely, the signal-to-noise ratio (s/n ratio) of the data, is uniform. When the s/n ratio of data varies, however, a portion of the data having a low s/n ratio affects a portion of the data having a high s/n ratio to make it difficult to remove the noise effectively in some cases.
In the method in which the moving average is calculated, since the average of data positioned close to the current input data in the time domain is obtained, the processing result is affected by a change in the s/n ratio of the data. In other words, the processing result has a high s/n ratio for a portion of data having a high s/n ratio, but the processing result has a low s/n ratio for a portion of data having a low s/n ratio.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the foregoing drawbacks.
The foregoing object is achieved in one aspect of the present invention through the provision of an image processing apparatus for processing input pixel data and for outputting the processed input pixel data as output pixel data, including input reliability calculation means for calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input pixel data; output reliability calculation means for calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output pixel data; motion-amount detecting means for detecting the motion amount of the input pixel data; motion-amount-reliability calculation means for calculating a motion-amount reliability indicating the reliability of the motion amount; compensation means for compensating for the output reliability according to the motion-amount reliability; and processing means for processing the input pixel data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output pixel data.
The foregoing object is achieved in another aspect of the present invention through the provision of a data processing apparatus for processing input data and for outputting the processed input data as output data, including noise-amount estimate means for estimating the amount of noise included in the input data; input reliability calculation means for calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input data, according to the amount of noise; output reliability calculation means for calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output data; compensation means for compensating for the output reliability according to the amount of noise; and processing means for processing the input data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output data.
The foregoing object is achieved in still another aspect of the present invention through the provision of an image processing method for processing input pixel data and for outputting the processed input pixel data as output pixel data, including the steps of calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input pixel data; calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output pixel data; detecting the motion amount of the input pixel data; calculating a motion-amount reliability indicating the reliability of the motion amount; compensating for the output reliability according to the motion-amount reliability; and processing the input pixel data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output pixel data.
The foregoing object is achieved in yet another aspect of the present invention through the provision of a data processing method for processing input data and for outputting the processed input data as output data, including the steps of estimating the amount of noise included in the input data; calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input data, according to the amount of noise; calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output data; compensating for the output reliability according to the amount of noise; and processing the input data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output data.
The foregoing object is achieved in yet still another aspect of the present invention through the provision of a storage medium for storing a computer-controllable program for processing input pixel data and for outputting the processed input pixel data as output pixel data, the program including the steps of calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input pixel data; calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output pixel data; detecting the motion amount of the input pixel data; calculating a motion-amount reliability indicating the reliability of the motion amount; compensating for the output reliability according to the motion-amount reliability; and processing the input pixel data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output pixel data.
The foregoing object is achieved in a further aspect of the present invention through the provision of a storage medium for storing a computer-controllable program for processing input data and for outputting the processed input data as output data, the program including the steps of estimating the amount of noise included in the input data; calculating an input reliability indicating the reliability of the input data, according to the amount of noise; calculating an output reliability indicating the reliability of the output data; compensating for the output reliability according to the amount of noise; and processing the input data according to the input reliability and the output reliability compensated for, and for outputting the output data.